And thomas j



(N0 Model.)

E. E. LOOMIS & T. J. MOOBRS.

' TRACK PRIGTION BRAKE.

Patented June 21 18 l il?,

INVENTORS mm wlmm/goww BY ATTORNEY.

ilNrrED STATES ATENT `EEroE.,

EDwAED E. Loot/ns, O E ELMIEA, NEw YORK, AND THOMAS J. MoOEEs, OEELossBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRACK F'RICTION-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 605,964, dated June 21,1898.

Application lcd. February 7,1898. Serial No. 669,382. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD E. LOOMIS, residing at Elmira, in the countyof Chemung and State of New York, and THOMAS J. MOOERS, residing atBlossburg, in the county of Tioga and State of Pennsylvania, citizens ofthe United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement Vin TrackFriction- Brakes, of which the following is aspeoication.

Our invention relates to improvements in brakes wherein the brake-shoesare applied directly to the track-rails and the object of our inventionis to providea simple, cheap, and effective brake designed moreespecially to meet the requirements for mine-cars which are to be rundown more or less steeply inclined grades. Heretofore the usual customhas been to sprag the wheels of such cars when starting down the grade.This oonsists in throwing a stick of hard wood in between the spokes ofthe wheel in such manner as to lock the wheels from turning. In this waythe wheels are made to slide on the rails, and often in one descent aflat spot is worn in the wheel. lVheel-brakes of various descriptionshave also been applied to these cars, but with suchbrakes the sameobjection obtains, and the wheels are soon worn flat in spots upon theirperiphery and become useless. Vith our device the wheels are free torevolve, and the Yonly expense attendant upon its use is the renewalfrom time to time of the brake-shoes.

XVe accomplishour object by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of amine-car with our brake attached; Fig. 2, an end elevation, partly insection, showing the brakes set upon the rails, the brake on theright-hand side being shown in section on the line c; :t in Eig. l;andpFig. 3, a detail of the brake mechanism on a'larger scale.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several Aviews.

The brakes are preferably two in number arranged upon opposite sides ofthe car,either between the wheels, as shown in Fig. 1, or in front ofthe forward wheels, where the wheels are placed too close together topermit the lolcation of the brake between them. Each brake consists of abracket A, bolted to the sides and bottom ofthe oar and provided withthe vertical guideways B B,in which moves the brake-shoe holder C. Thisholder pro- .jects from the lower extremity of the bracket and isprovided with an Outward extension vD, to which is bolted the brake-shoeE, which can be removed and renewed fromtime to time as it becomes wornout. A shaft H extends across from side to side beneath the bottom ofthe car and is journaled in the brackets A A, the ends of thisshaftbeing squared where they project outside of the brackets. Upon thissquared end at each side of the shaft is fastened a cam G, whichoperates upon the brake-shoe holder C within an L-shaped slot providedtherein. On one side of the car an operating-lever I is fastened to thesquared end of the shaft outside of the cam G andpextends upward,following the cont-our of the car with a length sufficient to give thenecessary leverage. A toothed segment M is bolted to the side of theoar, and a pawl L, pivoted on the leverI, is adapted to engage the teethon the segment to hold the brake upon the rail when the lever is drawnover to the left.`

" No springs are required to hold the brakes away from therails, sincethe weight of the operatinglever, when the" lever is thrown 'over to theright, ,will hold the cam G and holder C in elevated position. Moreover,when the cam G is thrown into the vertical position shown in Fig. 3, thebrake-shoe will be locked against the rail and the pawl and segment actonly as a safeguard against shocks and jars which would tend to throwthe parts out of position. Alfrictionlroller may be applied to the endof cam G where it engages holder C, if so desired.

The L-shaped slot in the brake-shoe holder is formed with one armhorizontal and the other vertical, the horizontal arm being acted uponby the cam G to Operate` the holder and the vertical arm being adaptedto receive the hub of the cam as the holder slides downward. Thelever-arm of the cam l`Giisvery small as compared to the lever-arm ofthe operatinglever I, and it will be seen, therefore, that a smallamount of power applied to the handle IOC) .l of the lever I will exerta proportionately large pressure upon the brake. In fact, a loaded carmay be lifted by this brake mechanism, so that the wheels willcompletely clear the track and the car slide down the incline upon thebrake-shoes alone.

While We have designed this brake With a view to applying it moreespecially to minecars, We do not Wish to confine ourselves to thisparticular application of it nor to the exact construction shown, whichadapts it to this particular use, since it is quite evident that bychanging the manner of applying the power the brake lnechauisinmay beadapted to other types of railway-cars Without departing from the spiritof our invention.

Te are aware of a track-brake in which the brake-slice holder isoperated by means of au 'eccentric which travels in an elliptical slotin `the holder. This arrangement, however, will not meet therequirements in the type of brake to which our invention is vespecially7applicable, since an'eccentric and elliptical slot to produce the sameamount of travel in the brake-shoe are required to be of so largeproportions as to forbid their being used in the confined space Withinwhich our brake is to be applied. y

That We claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A brake mechanism comprisinga reeiprocatiu g brake-shoe holder, aguideway therefor, a cam operating in an L-shaped slot in the holder,and a lever to operate the cam to set and release the brake,substantially as described.

2. A brake mechanism, comprising a pair of side brackets, brake-shoeholders guided in the brackets and provided with L-shaped slots, a shaftj ournaled in the brackets, cams attached to the shaft to operate uponthe holders Within said slots, and an operating-lever attached to theshaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have aflixed our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

E. E. LOOMIS. T. J. MOOERS.

Witnesses: CHAs. S. ROCKWELL, L. G. IIoR'roN.

